Monday, April 6, 2009

Obama Could Shut Down the Internet with Cybersecurity Act of 2009

Good news for Liberal Fascists and fans of totalitarianism. A bill was introduced last week by Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) would allow Obama to order the Internet to be shut down:The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 would empower the National Institute of Standards and Technology to set "measurable and auditable" security standards for all networks and systems run by federal agencies, government contractors and businesses that support critical infrastructure services. The legislation would "enable the president to order that critical infrastructure networks be disconnected in the event of cybersecurity emergencies or for reasons of national security." (Computerworld.com)Computerworld notes, in second article today, that:The timing of two cybersecurity bills just introduced by Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) seems a bit funny. It is not so much that they were introduced on April Fools' Day; more importantly, they were introduced before the widespread review of U.S. cybersecurity ordered by President Obama is completed by Melissa Hathaway, acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security Councils.How convenient. Computerworld continues, noting that there are actually two pieces of legislation (S. 778 and S. 773) involved in all of this.
It would seem to make more sense to wait and see what Hathaway thinks is broken before submitting bills to fix it. While I expect that the bills will be changed when Hathaway reports her findings in a few weeks, the current bills are interesting and have the potential to impact just about everyone in the network or network security business. The first bill (S 778) would establish an Office of National Cybersecurity Advisor within the Executive Office of the President. The second (S 773), which goes by the title of "The Cybersecurity Act of 2009," covers a grab bag of topics designed to "ensure the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications", among other things.Just one little problem: The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 does not provide a good definition of what a critical network or system is. In other words, Obama could decide that some portion (or all) of the Internet is "critical" and then order it shut down. Wait, that's actually a big problem.
Escapist Magazine provides link to the bill's text (PDF), as well as more information:"....the Cybersecurity Act that would create the Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor. Its powers are detailed in the The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (PDF), and this is where it gets very scary indeed.If the President so chooses, he can call a "cybersecurity emergency" and shut down or limit any 'net traffic on a "critical" network "in the name of national security," though the bill fails to provide concrete definitions on what is "critical" or what constitutes an "emergency." Scary? Sure, unless you're still brain dead from Obama's two-plus years of hipmotizing the American Sheeple. If you're still thinking Obama is the Messiah, then you probably welcome this further step toward his total fascistic rule of Amerika.
RELATED:Yet another government attempt at cybersecurity - Computerworld
Senate bill seeks to give feds new private-sector security powers - Computerworld
Proposed Bill Gives Obama Power to Shut Down Internet - Escapist Magazine
The Soviet System of Control - Crossroad
Cyber security: Can the Senate make the Internet safe? - TechRepublic
Democrats' Next Target: the Internet - American Thinker
Bill seeks to give president power over private networks - NetworkWorld.com
New Bill Would Give Feds Sweeping Cybersecurity Enforcement Powers - TechNewsWorld
Why You Should Be Against the New CyberSecurity Act - Domaining Manual
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